S10.E04: Lake of Thieves

[Quilt Fairy]

Quote

As the participants finally get into a rhythm, loneliness begins to settle in for the survivalists. One seemingly small choice proves to be a disastrous mistake for one participant, while another has an encounter with a viscous predator.

Air date: June 29, 2023

Edited June 29, 2023 by Quilt Fairy

[mlp]

I can't wait to see the viscous predator.  Maybe somebody gets slimed.  :)

[Quilt Fairy]

22 hours ago, mlp said:

I can't wait to see the viscous predator.  Maybe somebody gets slimed.  :)

Cut and pasted from their website. 

"I had a dream and my mother told me to come home."  For fuck's sake, they need to vet these people better! 

[iMonrey]

I think this show would be about 45 minutes long without all the incessant commercials. I pity anyone who tries to watch it live. I think I might time it next week.

There's also something hinky going on with the captions. I made a list of all ten contestants when they were first introduced in the premier episode, with their ages, occupations and places of residence. But the captions they've been putting up vary slightly from what they originally said. Jodi was 46 when they first introduced her but the caption in last night's episode said 45. I've similarly had to adjust about four or five other ages up or down one year. Also, Luke was introduced as a glass artist from Hawaii but last night he said he lived in Oregon.

Speaking of Jodi and Luke. Jodi had me worried walking around on top of that roof, I was sure she was going to fall through. But it was all for naught. I swear, do some of these people just come on this show to build cabins? This woman spent 21 days building a cabin while subsisting on berries and bark. Did she even try to catch fish or any small game? She lost 27 pounds in that time. And once her cabin was done she tapped out. Sheesh.

I get that this is as much a psychological test as it is a physical one. It's called Alone. But that should be your first clue, y'know? I just don't get all these people who can't hack being away from their families for three weeks.

And Luke. TMI about the diarrhea in the sleeping bag, dude. At least I don't have to listen to him rap anymore.

Placing my bets on Taz now. Man he has some wild hair. But he was raised in a fishing village in Brazil and lives in a tree house. Alone. He's got two kids but they live in Brazil so he's used to not living with them. He did make a rookie mistake leaving his fish out like that though. Same with Wyatt.

Looks like Melanie has also been living on berries and bark for the first 20 days but at least she finally caught a fish.

[SassyCat]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Speaking of Jodi and Luke. Jodi had me worried walking around on top of that roof, I was sure she was going to fall through. But it was all for naught. I swear, do some of these people just come on this show to build cabins? This woman spent 21 days building a cabin while subsisting on berries and bark. Did she even try to catch fish or any small game? She lost 27 pounds in that time. And once her cabin was done she tapped out. Sheesh.

I get that this is as much a psychological test as it is a physical one. It's called Alone. But that should be your first clue, y'know? I just don't get all these people who can't hack being away from their families for three weeks.

Yeah, the ones who put all their energies into cabin building from the get go always seem to be the first tappers. I too was thinking at any moment Jodi was going to crash right through her roof. I also thought the way she was describing her “dream” about her mother telling her she needs her home was a bogus, made up excuse. I guess shes the type who’s gotta put the blame on someone else, before admitting that she just wasn’t up for the daunting task of following through all the hard work ahead of her. Hard work she knew all about before signing the dotted line. 

I am also surprised Luke is an early tapper too. I do understand the uncomfortableness of a stomach bug preventing him from being able to carry on in a survival situation though. That would be pretty unBEARable. Thankfully his arrows missed the target of that young bear, and was his “sign” to return to his family. I too, do not remember anything said about him living in Oregon. I just remember seeing him with a lot of sand and palm tree backgrounds from hawaii in his profile previews. He did spend a lot of his energy building himself two residences, his beach house and his inner land underground bunker. So many people really burn themselves out quickly with shelter building in the beginning. I do like Alans teepee. It looks extremely cozy and took a fraction of the time and energy the logging of cabin builders put out.

Taz does look like a contender for the win , and yes, he sure has some hair on that head! Good thing he holds it all in place with that head bandana, or he’d be having some mighty bad and difficult hairdays ahead of him. So far, I think it will come down to him and Alan. 

Wyatt got lazy and learned the hard way not to leave his food out for uninvited guests… or was it tide that came in and flooded his tide pool? That was unclear to me.

 

[Blackie]

1 hour ago, SassyCat said:

or was it tide that came in and flooded his tide pool? That was unclear to me.

They are on a lake so no tide. Pretty sure it was that mink.

Jodi was soooo boring, blah blah blah, I guess she was getting the tap out edit. She was only there to build a cabin and lose weight, I bet she doesn't even know how to fish or hunt.

It seemed to me before that Luke lived in Hawaii but his kid was in Oregon for some reason, but now he made it sound like his family wasn't separated .....  so not sure. Redefines the "fart sack" my FIL's name for sleeping bag. 

Luke and Jodi both made big changes to the environment and then ended up leaving so I am still with Alan and his low impact philosophy.

[diebartdie]

1 hour ago, SassyCat said:

Yeah, the ones who put all their energies into cabin building from the get go always seem to be the first tappers. I too was thinking at any moment Jodi was going to crash right through her roof. <SNIP>

I am also surprised Luke is an early tapper too. I do understand the uncomfortableness of a stomach bug preventing him from being able to carry on in a survival situation though. <SNIP>

 

Compare Jodi's shelter to Melanie's. Jodi did the dumb, she used giant logs that took all her strength (plus she decided to mainly subsist on her own body fat right at the beginning) and every time she was onscreen, she was talking about her family; meanwhile happy Melanie also built a log cabin, but her logs were saplings, not trees and yet she's got something cozy and warm. She hasn't had much to eat but she's upbeat and having a great time, I think she'll go far, maybe even be the surprise winner.

Luke built 2 shelters, one far more intense than the other but that's not what took him out as he was keeping himself fed. He stupidly drank not just directly from the lake BUT AT THE SHORELINE, literally the most toilet part so yeah, he took himself out (although, in the end it looked not so much physical sickness but rather sudden homesickness). I thought he was going to go far.

Taz seems a little scatterbrained but fairly competent, Wyatt rubs me the wrong way....oh, something I was wondering, last episode 2 people tapped out, this episode was set during the same time period and 2 people tapped so did 4 people tap on a single day or within 24 hours? Seems like a first?

[Blackie]

13 minutes ago, diebartdie said:

this episode was set during the same time period and 2 people tapped so did 4 people tap on a single day or within 24 hours? Seems like a first?

 

This episode started 2 days earlier I noticed and then I kind of lost track of the timeline but yes it seems like they were all around the same day. Darn ! The day they tapped is not something I wrote on my list unfortunately

[Quilt Fairy]

1 hour ago, diebartdie said:

last episode 2 people tapped out, this episode was set during the same time period and 2 people tapped so did 4 people tap on a single day or within 24 hours? Seems like a first?

Since they've started doing the tap-dancing back and forth with days it's hard to tell, but I'd say within 48 hours max, and it could have been less.  I think that it is a first, regardless. 

Edited June 30, 2023 by Quilt Fairy

[wait.what]

On the History/Alone website it says Melanie took Food Rations as 2 of her 10 items. Hmmm? Good strategy? I think Cade chose a bar of soap as one of his items which I don’t think we have seen before. Also did someone choose salt as one of their 10 items?
 

Just wondering what everyone thinks of these choices. 

[Blackie]

 

42 minutes ago, wait.what said:

I think Cade chose a bar of soap as one of his items

Bar of soap ? hmmmm maybe because he knew he would be walking around digging his hands into bear poop

 

42 minutes ago, wait.what said:

Melanie took Food Rations as 2 of her 10 items

 

probably smart because I don't think she has great hunting skills as far as big game goes but she seems to be making other smart decisions about shelter, firewould, gathering food etc

Edited June 30, 2023 by Blackie
grammer and spacing

[Pine]

I even question if Luke even pooped in the fart sack.  It was just laying there closed up, and the smell would be horrendous, although he was sitting right next to it.  I would imagine since he seemed to have all of the sudden perked up, that it would have been dragged down to the shoreline, and washed out.  His schtick is kind of fake to me.  JMHO of course.   The whole Bear and Cub thing, seemed fake too.     

[iMonrey]

2 hours ago, diebartdie said:

Luke built 2 shelters, one far more intense than the other but that's not what took him out as he was keeping himself fed. He stupidly drank not just directly from the lake BUT AT THE SHORELINE,

I didn't see Luke drinking straight from the lake. Cade did that in a previous episode, but he's the only one. Unless I missed it.

 

2 hours ago, diebartdie said:

I was wondering, last episode 2 people tapped out, this episode was set during the same time period and 2 people tapped so did 4 people tap on a single day or within 24 hours? Seems like a first?

Lee tapped out Day 18, Ann tapped out Day 19. Luke tapped Day 20, and Jodi on Day 22.

4 hours ago, SassyCat said:

Yeah, the ones who put all their energies into cabin building from the get go always seem to be the first tappers. I too was thinking at any moment Jodi was going to crash right through her roof. I also thought the way she was describing her “dream” about her mother telling her she needs her home was a bogus, made up excuse. I guess shes the type who’s gotta put the blame on someone else, before admitting that she just wasn’t up for the daunting task of following through all the hard work ahead of her. Hard work she knew all about before signing the dotted line. 

I just don't get this. I don't know if some of these people just think the "key" to survival is building a big, sturdy shelter, or if the big draw for them doing this show is going somewhere and building a cabin in the wilderness. It's short-sighted in either case. In Jodi's case it seemed like once her cabin was done, she lost interest.

[Quilt Fairy]

18 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I don't know if some of these people just think the "key" to survival is building a big, sturdy shelter, or if the big draw for them doing this show is going somewhere and building a cabin in the wilderness. It's short-sighted in either case.

I don't think you can discount the safety factor.  When you're in a an area with a high bear population, a tarp thrown over a pole is not a long-term living solution. 

[DrewPaul2010]

21 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Cut and pasted from their website. 

"I had a dream and my mother told me to come home."  For fuck's sake, they need to vet these people better! 

Her stomach told her to go home. I believe at some point she was only hanging on only to finish her cabin. Its sad I'm sure they tore it down like they usually do. She probably got home and her mom told her sorry honey that was a wrong call.

[DrewPaul2010]

I thought Luke had legs also. He was successful at procuring calories. He had made a cool cabin that looked very sturdy. However the first moment he faced adversity he didn't think twice about tapping out. Other contestants have gutted out a bout and got better.

[DrewPaul2010]

I don't think the # of drop outs this season is unusual. Typically a 1/3 the participants who aren't up to the challenge drop out in the first 20-30 days. Then accidents take out a participant or two. The last four left are usually hard core, have great attitudes, love the challenge and are at least semi successful procuring calories.  

Edited July 1, 2023 by DrewPaul2010
Clarity

[Sunshine Susie]

I don’t understand this “getting to my family”

They don’t get to go home until filming is over. Just say “I am hungry”! 

[SassyCat]

4 hours ago, wait.what said:

On the History/Alone website it says Melanie took Food Rations as 2 of her 10 items. Hmmm? Good strategy? I think Cade chose a bar of soap as one of his items which I don’t think we have seen before. Also did someone choose salt as one of their 10 items?
 

Just wondering what everyone thinks of these choices. 

I think it is a good idea to take a food ration, and how more than a couple have won in the end. I remember Sam who holed up most of the time he spent there took a food ration. Eeking it out and having at least a few mouthfuls on those days where nothing is available just might be the way to be able to hold out just one more day than the second to last person. 
I would think soap is a useless item and also an animal repellent if they can smell it. I know those deer hunters don’t bathe sometimes before the hunt, and do everything they can not to alert the animals to the presence of humans in the vicinity. 

[SassyCat]

The way Jodi described her dream about her mother standing outside her cabin telling her she needed her home, was more like someone would describe having a ghost encounter. 

[Yeah No]

Every season is different but this time somehow it feels like a lot of tap outs bing, bang, boom in a row like that.   So far this ties with a few seasons with 4 gone before day 30.  I think only one season surpassed that with 5.

I can't believe some of the eye roll inducing reasons for those tap-outs, though.  These people are supposed to be freaking experts and they go and make rookie mistakes like that?  It's mind boggling!  Don't they watch the show?  I'm not an outdoorsy type but even I know better.  As soon as that guy put his fish away I knew it was going to get taken.  And Luke drinking the water - I think he mentioned it last week and I knew right then he was going to get sick.  So stupid.

I had such high hopes for some of these people.  Every season it seems like they find people with ever more impressive resumes.  I don't get these people that build the Taj Mahal of structures then tap out right after.  I still wonder if some of them aren't in it just for the exposure and going on the show is a deliberate move just to get their 15 minutes of fame.  Something smells fishy to me and it's not in a gill net either!

[iMonrey]

15 hours ago, DrewPaul2010 said:

I believe at some point she was only hanging on only to finish her cabin. Its sad I'm sure they tore it down like they usually do.

I miss the montages they used to do of the shelters being deconstructed. I wonder why they stopped doing that.

[Blackie]

21 hours ago, Pine said:

I even question if Luke even pooped in the fart sack.  It was just laying there closed up, and the smell would be horrendous, although he was sitting right next to it.

 

It just occurred to me this is probably why he had to tap out. If you fill your fart sack with liquid diarrhea .....  there is no recovering from that,

Edited July 1, 2023 by Blackie
spelling

[Jeanne222]

4 hours ago, Blackie said:

 

It just occurred to me this is probably why he had to tap out. If you fill your fart sack with liquid diarrhea .....  there is no recovering from that,

Could he take it to the lake, clean it up and dry it in the sun?  Heck having four babies...everything is fixable!

I forget which one laid down on the shoreline and drank the water!  I'm no survivalist but I thought dam that was dumb!

Boiling water over those fires seems easy enough compared to a belly full of whatever!

I wonder what the expense is to ready a participant for the show?  I would think quite a bit.

Sorry but I'm disappointed in such early tap outs with those that have chosen survivalist lifestyles.

Like I said earlier I think the pool has shrunk with anxious participants.

[Auntie Anxiety]

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I miss the montages they used to do of the shelters being deconstructed. I wonder why they stopped doing that.

They needed to find yet another 15 seconds to fill with a commercial. 

[iMonrey]

20 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

Sorry but I'm disappointed in such early tap outs with those that have chosen survivalist lifestyles.

This is the part of the show that separates the true survivalists from the ones who just play at it. Lee is a pilot, Ann is an organic farmer, Luke is a glass artist (and self-proclaimed "primitive living expert") and Jodi is a cattle rancher. They might claim to have the skills to do this sort of thing but clearly they've never really had to put those skills to the test in any sort of realistic situation.

 

24 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

Like I said earlier I think the pool has shrunk with anxious participants.

Another part of the problem is that the people who apply for a show like this are all likely of a very similar type. Like any reality show, I think this one uses various criteria for choosing ten of them other than who seems the best at it. They obviously don't just want ten guys that are all interchangeable. They're looking for interesting backgrounds, occupations, origins and backstories. It's why we end up with people who can't really hack it when it comes down to it.

[diebartdie]

So, if you've watched enough seasons of this show you already know that shitting the bed is very common amongst contestants and almost everyone who does that does not tap, they clean it all up and carry on. Luke either exaggerated or was just being a baby about it.

Second thing will be under spoiler tags but if you want to know what Im spoilering, it's about Cade.

Spoiler

Apparently he "found" his quiver and at least "one" of the arrows.

 

[TVbitch]

I think it's like Project Runway, where producers purposely cast some people as "fodder" who they know will not make it that far. They can't have everyone lasting til the bitter end and need a steady stream of tap outs to make the show more entertaining. 

[humbleopinion]

On 6/28/2023 at 11:36 PM, mlp said:

I can't wait to see the viscous predator.  Maybe somebody gets slimed.  :)

Perhaps it was the diarrhea?
Sorry to ruin your appetite for your next meal or snack!
Seriously, how lazy are you to not bolt out of your sleeping bag when you get the rumbles and violent lower bowel churning as a prelude to explosive diarrhea...no one has the sphincter control to hold back that dam about to burst.

[humbleopinion]

On 6/30/2023 at 4:40 PM, wait.what said:

On the History/Alone website it says Melanie took Food Rations as 2 of her 10 items. Hmmm? Good strategy? I think Cade chose a bar of soap as one of his items which I don’t think we have seen before. 

Longtime fans will recall that Brooke Whipple in Season 4/Couples Season made a BFD of choosing soap as one of her items.

Hope Cade had enough common sense to bring unscented soap instead of Axe.